


Library Fines

by lostintheclouds321



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Harry exudes some Ravenclaw tendencies, I DESPISE CHEMISTRY, Is this considered crack?, Pre-Canon, it's like pre-severitus in an ideal world, y'know how it is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:08:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28365915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostintheclouds321/pseuds/lostintheclouds321
Summary: Severus has never returned a library book late, until now. On his journey to make it right, he runs into the clueless Savior of the Wizarding World.
Relationships: Harry Potter & Severus Snape
Comments: 8
Kudos: 79





	Library Fines

**Author's Note:**

> idek know what this is. I've been thinking about this brain worm since july but didn't really know how to end it  
> enjoy ig  
> Jesi~
> 
> Harry is ten years old

Severus is in his office having a day off for the first time in a while. The other day, he’d given his Seventh Years the choice to come into class during their free period to finish up their potions and not have their Friday class or to undergo business as normal. Unsurprisingly, they’d all decided to come in early. Considering they were his only class on Fridays, that meant he had the entire day off. With the added benefit of getting most of the leftover grading done a day before, Severus finally would have a needed break from teaching duties.

He would still have to watch over his snakes, but he had plenty of his time to himself today. But what would he even do? There wasn’t much of interest in his office and he wasn’t in the mood to start any personal projects as of yet (he’d done plenty during the relief of summer). So, the teacher turns to his overflowing bookshelf. It’s filled to the brim and some of the books are holding onto the bookshelf for dear life – quite literally. Except, one book in particular stands out to him.

Unlike the others, it has a flat spine laden with small cracks and no leather binder. Even further, it looks rather bland and _normal_ where all of his other books have character and spark interest. He leans closer into it and picks it out of the shelf. The books around it quickly flood the gap to make space for the ones on the edge. Inspecting it, he sees that it is a muggle book.

He hadn’t always had much interest in the stories of muggles, or at least, he fell out of it for a while. Growing up with Lily, he’d often frequently the muggle library with her. She would read him fantastical tales that sometimes feel a little bit short with him – he did grow up in a world of magic after all. He’d never had a card with her, she would just lend him the book after she devoured it in a day or two. Severus had always been very good at keeping them intact – even in his household.

After he’d joined the Death Eaters, however, he’d been all but forced to stop reading muggle fiction. Had he been caught reading any of it, he surely would have been killed. It was only recently that he’d indulged his love of reading the normal struggles of muggles. There were no good libraries in Cokeworth, but there was a local portkey that went close enough to a good library in Leatherhead (of all the places). It went off every weekend and had served his guilty pleasure for a long while over the past few summers.

Though Lily was no longer around to read him books in that exaggerated reading voice of her’s, he still enjoyed the contents and the experience. His library card was rather void of any errors as he’d been smart enough to return all of his books on time. Except this one it seems.

He frantically turns to the front of the book where the due date has been stamped into the cover and lets out a harsh swear. It was due nearly a month ago on September 28th. Even worse, he’d barely even read it. For the first time ever, Severus is late in returning a library book. He’s not even sure what will happen now; the librarian’s speech from when he’d first gotten his card about the consequences of it all had long ago drifted to the dark recesses of his mind to be lost forever.

Severus lets out a deep sigh and considers what the muggles could possibly try and do to him. Would they attempt to turn him into their feeble jail? No, he didn’t think muggles were that cruel over a book. Maybe returning it would suffice? He thinks about the librarian he usually met at the library: Daisy. She was awfully cheery but he thought he’d built up quite a pattern with her. Maybe if she was there he could get out of the punishment somehow.

She seemed to think he was a ‘chemistry professor’ whatever the hell that monstrosity was. It seemed to be the closest muggle understanding of potions so he’d went with it. Somehow, it managed to explain to her why he wore such thick robes all the time (he’d never cared for muggle clothes and was not keen on donning them just for a stroll to the library).

The book had probably gotten mixed in with his wizard books – he never had to worry about returning a wizard library book late because once the due date arrives for them, they would simply be magicked back to their shelves. He couldn’t explain that to Daisy easily – or without breaking the law. Now, he just had to wonder if he could go today or if he would have to sit with his failure until Christmas break.

He pens a quick note to Albus and throws it into his fire with a pinch of floo dust and the name of his office off his tongue. Within seconds, it is sent back with an Emphatic ‘YES’ written in red ink. Severus supposes that means any possible duties he might have had considering detention and the like have been handed off to another.

Severus lets his shoulders droop beneath his robes at the relief and goes about leaving campus for a day. It’s nearly three so he’d better hurry before the library closes up.

The library is clean and organized. There’s a few people loitering outside, but Severus ignores them and walks through the front door. Once he’s inside, his first instinct is to look for Daisy. He’d rather not explain his situation to anyone else if he can avoid it. He’d be less likely to escape at that point.

He’s standing away from the desk avoiding any eye contact for at least four minutes before Daisy walks out of the shelves. Daisy is a young woman with pink hair and an affinity for knit cardigans. When she sees him, she smiles and he walks over to her in a fast pace. The book is held in front of him like a peace offering, “I didn’t return this on time,” he says plainly.

When her smile doesn’t fall a bit, he feels relieved, “That’s no problem. Let me check it in and we’ll see the due, okay?” he follows her to the desk and she checks the library book and another piece of paper for whatever she needs, “So, did you drive down from your university to check this in?”

“Something like that,” the teacher explains tersely.

Daisy hums, “You’ve been in session for two months, right? Have you been busy?” she asks.

At this point, Severus is feeling a bit impatient. He simply wants to know the punishment, but he nods, “Very. My students can be very unwieldly.”

Daisy looks up from the paper with wide eyes, “Don’t tell me you had lab accidents!” she exclaims.

From what he’s gathered, chemistry labs can be rather explosive – not so different than potions – so he shrugs, “I try to avoid them if I can.”

The librarian simply nods, “That’s good; well, it seems that you only owe ten pounds. Do you have money on you?”

Severus nods and digs into his right pocket for his money pouch. He brings it out and opens it to see nothing but wizarding money. It’s to be expected after so long at Hogwarts where he has no use for the paper bills muggles claim to be money. He solemnly shakes his head, “I left it at the _university_ , it seems,” he closes the pouch and returns it to his pocket.

At this, Daisy’s face falls and she purses her lips, “Oh no. Well, we’re happy you returned the book, but the fine will continue to grow the longer you don’t pay it. And there’s no way for me to put it on hold. When will you be able to come back?” she asks. She seems to actually care about the situation.

“I’ll be back at Christmas, today was a rare break. I shall simply accept my fate,” he says.

“Oh! Maybe, this technically isn’t library policy but since you’re a teacher,” she drifts off, considering whether or not to ask her question, “There’s a boy who visits a lot to study on his own, and it’d really mean a lot if you could tutor him. In fact, it’d mean so much that me and the other librarians would clear your fine! He’s been really struggling with chemistry lately and it would mean so much to us,” Daisy pleads with him.

He raises his head a bit and considers how he can possibly turn down the offer. Severus can’t exactly tell her he’s _not_ a chemistry professor or he might never be able to come back to this library for the sake of his own pride. However, before he can do anything but agree, Daisy shimmies around the counter and grabs hold of his arm. In no time at all, she’s pushing him into the stacks towards a row of tables.

At one of the chairs, there is a very studious looking boy sitting down. He has moppy brown hair and a pair of broken glasses. He’s leaning over, very intently, a very thick and confusing looking textbook. Next to him is another pile of books that seem to have accumulated throughout his stay at the library.

He almost looks like-

“Harry!” Daisy calls out to him in a soft voice.

Severus’ heart sinks as the boy looks up. Sure enough, it’s Harry Potter in the flesh – that spawn of James Potter. He can’t help but wonder why the boy has ended himself up in the library. He would have figured he’d be off playing some sport or awful prank. But then Severus sees Lily’s eyes behind his broken glasses and it hurts to look at.

Daisy introduces him as a chemistry professor there to help tutor him and Harry looks up at him in awe. Daisy leaves and Harry asks, “Are you really able to help me?”

Severus sits down with the full intention to simply explain that he’s actually a wizard because that will clear up everything (plus, looking at the chemistry textbook is bound to give him a headache if he focuses on it for too long. Ignoring the expectant look, Severus waits until Daisy is far enough away before saying, “You see, I’m not actually a chemistry professor,” he starts.

Harry, very passionately accuses him, “You lied to Daisy then? Why? She’s the best librarian here!”

The teacher lets out a very sharp breath through his nose, “If you would have let me get to that – nevermind, I lied to her because I am actually a wizard,” he says with full confidence. Harry is sure to understand, even if he is his father’s intolerable child, why he had to say such a thing.

Severus gets to watch as the boy’s face shifts from accusation to confusion and then settles on worry, “Are you mad or something?” He also moves a bit further back in his chair to garner some space between them.

Feeling indignant, Severus crosses his arms and casts a stern look Harry’s way, “What do you mean?”

“Like, not right in the head.”

He glares at the boy. He knows what mad means and certainly was not asking for any sort of definition, “Harry James Potter, do you talk to all adults that way? I would not be surprised,” he huffs.

Harry grows significantly paler and scoots his chair backwards, “Only the creepy ones who stalk me. Y’know, maybe I should go get Daisy. She’ll know what to do.”

A thought crosses Severus’ mind – one he finds rather improbable – and he catches the edge of Harry’s raggedy sweater before he can go get the librarian, “Is it possible, that you do not know about magic?” he questions. Harry says nothing, but is still looking in the direction of the desk, “Sit _down_ ,” Severus instructs like it’s second nature, “I’ll tell you about magic,” he did end up having his fine cleared for teaching after all. Might as well help him understand a subject worth something, “Surely, you’ve had an inkling of its existence before.”

At this, Harry’s strict gaze softens a little bit, “How do I know you’re not just out of your head?”

“A simple spell, perchance? He forfeits his wand and decides to attempt it on his own so as to not risk any muggles actually see what he’s doing. He completes the motion, pointing towards Harry’s glasses, and says, “Occulus Reparo.”

The lenses come together and the bridge corrects itself in seconds. Harry looks blown away by the proceedings. He takes off his glasses to completely inspect them before putting them back on his face, “That’s wicked.”

Severus is unimpressed with his amazement, but it does bring up a question, “How did you not know?”

“Was I supposed to?”

“Presumably so.”

Harry’s lips straighten out and his lips thin, “Then it’s probably because of my relatives. I don’t think they would like anything like that,” he says with a frown, “They don’t like much.”

The whole situation feels unshakably familiar but in the worst possible way. And though Severus has never cared for children – he’d only become a teacher for bigger and better things – he can’t help himself from reaching out to this boy (‘Lily’s boy,’ a voice whispers in his head). He clears his throat and asks, “Well then, I guess I’ve no choice than to teach you about with world of magic – and the role you play in it.”

“What do you mean?” Harry asked. He pushes the chemistry textbook to the side and leans into the table, “Are you saying I can do magic, too?”

Severus sighs, “This might take a while.”

**Author's Note:**

> lmaoooo so what did you think? it's a little bit ridiculous.  
> [my other harry potter fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25671727/chapters/62325856) (it's severitus)
> 
> Subscribe for the possibility of more chapters even though I marked this as a one shot


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